He’s determined to uncover the truth behind a decades-old disappearance—even if it kills him
When hotshot reporter Max Malone gets a rare shot of Buckmaster Hamilton with a blonde woman near Beartooth, Montana, he chases down one of the senator’s daughters to verify that the woman is his supposedly long-dead first wife. But Kat Hamilton won’t give him the time of day, let alone any information about her mother.
With his tousled blond hair, sexy stubble and an old straw cowboy hat topping off his long, lean frame, Kat can just tell Max isn’t used to female sources denying him anything. But when her own life is put in jeopardy, it’s Max who comes to her rescue. Seems someone is prepared to kill to keep the past in the past. Kat can’t deny she needs Max to find out what happened to her mother, but will getting closer and closer to each other lead them to the truth…or to danger?
Praise for New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels
“Forget slow-simmering romance: the multiple story lines weaving in and out of Big Timber, Montana, mean the second Montana Hamiltons contemporary (after Wild Horses) is always at a rolling boil.”
—Publishers Weekly on Lone Rider
“The first book of Daniels’ new Montana Hamiltons series will draw readers in with its genuine characters, multiple storylines and intense conflict set against the beautiful Montana landscape.”
—RT Book Reviews on Wild Horses
“Truly amazing crime story for every amateur sleuth.”
—Fresh Fiction on Mercy
“Daniels is truly an expert at Western romantic suspense.”
—RT Book Reviews on Atonement
“Romantic suspense that will keep readers guessing. If you like Longmire, this is the book for you.”
—RT Book Reviews on Forsaken
“Will keep readers on the edge of their chairs from beginning to end.”
—Booklist on Forsaken
“Action-packed and chock-full of suspense.”
—Under the Covers on Redemption
“Fans of Western romantic suspense will relish Daniels’ tale of clandestine love played out in a small town on the Great Plains.”
—Booklist on Unforgiven
Lucky Shot
B.J. Daniels
MILLS & BOON
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This one is for Susie Higgins. When I moved to a very small town in north central Montana, my writer friends worried that I wouldn’t have any other writers to inspire me. While we are short on writers up here, no one is more creative than my quilting friend Susie. She inspires everyone around her with her laugh, her generosity and her fun-loving, happy disposition. She has talked me off the ledge more than once. Thanks, my friend.
Contents
Praise for New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
EPILOGUE
MAX MALONE SCRATCHED his shaggy sandy-blond hair and squinted at the sunrise that cast the awe-inspiring Crazy Mountains in a pale pink glow. He’d camped just outside the Hamilton Ranch, sleeping in the back of his pickup and hoping it wouldn’t rain.
He needed a haircut and he also had a couple days’ growth of beard. All part of the job, he thought as he surveyed the news vans parked outside the Hamilton Ranch gate. There’d been more vans parked here nine months ago when the senator’s first wife had returned from the dead. Now only two vehicles remained, along with a few reporters who drove out some mornings after a hot shower, a latte and a night in a warm bed. Like him, they lived in hope of getting something newsworthy on the days they heard the senator was back from Washington.
Max had met the other reporters and photographers the first day he’d shown up here. They would have looked down their noses at him even if he hadn’t been driving an old pickup and sleeping in the back of it under the camper shell. He was